How to Pay Off the Deficit

Dean Baker proposes ways to pay off the budget deficit that don't include cutting social security: among them, a financial speculation tax and allowing the sale of generic prescription drugs.

22 June, 2010

Dean Baker proposes ways to pay off the budget deficit that don't include cutting social security: among them, a financial speculation tax and allowing the sale of generic prescription drugs. "If the budget hawks had a track record of knowing about the economy or financial markets then perhaps we should take them seriously, but they don't. Therefore we should just view them as people who want to cut social security and are putting out some nonsense to rationalise beating up on retirees."

Even the optimists among us would have to admit 2018 was a challenging year. The fractured world that became the focus of our 2018 Annual Meeting a year ago came under further pressure from populist rhetoric and rising nationalist agendas. At the same time, the urgent need for coordinated global action in areas such as climate change, inequality and the impact of automation on jobs became more intense.